Word of Advice
by allonsysilvertongue
Summary: Oswald Cobblepot visits an old friend for his advice


_I've never written anything for Gotham before but I just started on season 3 yesterday and had to write out the scene between Oswald & Ed._

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 **Word of Advice**

Oswald leaned back in his seat, watching Ed carefully.

"It's a puzzle," Oswald said, rather proudly.

That was what he had been told. He had gone into the shop and demanded for a puzzle and enigma that Ed would appreciate and the old man behind the counter had brought him _that._

He still had no idea what that was. Watching Ed's fingers turning it this way and that, he figured it was some sort of Rubik's cube.

He was certain Ed would appreciate his gift this time round. He had been told it went unsolved for generations and no one had been able to open it. That should do the trick to occupy him.

"A mathematician once went mad trying …."

The cube fell open. Oswald blinked, surprised.

How long did that take him? Two minutes? Maybe, even less?

They stared at it; Ed perhaps a little unimpressed, Oswald a little loss for words.

"Yes," Oswald chuckled. "There you go…"

"It was a lovely thought."

Oswald stopped laughing and cleared his throat, and started talking fast as he was prone to do when he was a little nervous, a little unsure. He wasn't exactly certain why he was this way around Ed, as if he needed to impress him. He _shouldn't_ be feeling this way. He was Penguin and –

"Mr. Penguin."

"Oswald," he corrected and that was it.

With Ed, he was Oswald. He didn't feel the need to reassert himself as The Penguin around him. Ed had seen him at his lowest right after his mother's demise and had nursed him to strength. There was a bond there that could not be severed. He wondered – well, he _hoped_ – that Ed shared the sentiment but he couldn't be sure. He was trying to reach out to Ed and he was convinced he was actually doing a poor job of it with the biscuits and the sweaters.

All he wanted, foolish as it might sound, was a friend. They were not easy to come by in Gotham considering who he was. He had Butch but… Butch was someone he demanded loyalty from.

Ed was someone he could _talk to_ and he considered Ed to be an old friend considering their history; someone whose mind fascinated him and talking to him had kept him sane when he was constantly surrounded by morons and lunatics. He told Ed the same.

"I know the feeling."

Oswald turned his gaze on him. Ed understood him. There was something inside them that was similar. He couldn't put a finger on it. Jim Gordon would probably narrow it down to their psychopathic, murderous tendencies.

He would not risk appearing vulnerable but here, there was only him and Ed so he told his old friend the one thing that had been bothering him about Fish, something that he had been going through over and over in his head. If he couldn't figure this, perhaps Edward Nygma, the riddler could. He certainly solved that cube faster than Oswald could state his intention in coming here.

"Why didn't she kill me when she had the chance? I was powerless," Oswald admitted bitterly. "She must have a larger goal and I – I need to know what she is doing."

It must seem stupid to ask an incarcerated man about Fish's motivation. If anyone was in a better position to find out the truth, it was Oswald himself. He was a free man in Gotham. He had more resources than Ed could ever hope to have sitting behind bars.

His gaze followed the movement of Ed's hand as he tore the wrapping paper in half.

"When Alexandra encountered the Gordion knot, a knot so complex no one had been able to untangle it…"

Oswald frowned. He had no clue what Alexandra and his knot had anything to do with his problem with Fish but he had learnt that Ed's mind worked differently and that it was better not to interrupt.

"Details can be distracting. Sometimes, a simple solution is best."

Oswald waited, his eyes riveted on him. He was getting closer.

"See, no matter what she is planning, just remember - "

Ed leaned forward and dropped the penguin origami on the table between them. Oswald chuckled, pleased and surprised that he could fold it without once looking at the paper in his hands.

"- penguins _eat_ fish."

Oswald smirked.

Nature had never lied. This fight against Fish – he would emerge victorious.

Ed was right. It didn't matter what Fish was planning or what she had under her sleeve. At the end of the day, he would kill her.

He knew he wasn't wrong to visit his old friend.

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 _Let me know what you think!_


End file.
